Android - Access External Storage Files Android 10/11

Question

I really need your help because I'm stuck <.< I have already tryed all solutions I've found here in "stackoverflow" for this problem, but any of them worked for me..

I have updated my application to follow the new Google Play Store policies, so actually my app is using only "Scoped Storage" without "Shared Storage" behaviour, so I've removed from the manifest the "requestLegacyExternalStorage".

In my app I need to send to the server some file selected by the user, these file can be stored in the "internal storage" or in the "external storage". They are always stored outside of the app-specific directory, so the directory in: "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/[APP_PACKAGE]/files"

My biggest problem is that I can't open any file stored outside of the app-specific directory! I really need to open the files that the user has selected and convert its content to "base64" to send it to the server. But when I use this method to get the file content encoded in base64:

public static String fileToBase64(@NonNull String filePath) {
    String ret = null;
    byte[] buffer = new byte[8192];
    int bytesRead;
    try(ByteArrayOutputStream bAOS = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        Base64OutputStream b64OS = new Base64OutputStream(bAOS, Base64.DEFAULT);
        InputStream iS = new FileInputStream(filePath)){
        while ((bytesRead = iS.read(buffer)) != -0x1) {
            b64OS.write(buffer, 0x0, bytesRead);
        }
        b64OS.flush();
        ret = bAOS.toString();
    } catch (IOException ioE) {
        Logger.onException(TAG, ioE);
    }
    return ret;
}

I always get an ACCESS PERMISSION DENIED.

Is there any way to solve this problem without using "requestLegacyStorage" in the manifest? I know that Google will remove all applications that don't use only "SCOPED STORAGE" from the store starting from 5 of july, so I can't use the "reqestLegacyStorage" to solve this problem...

I'm already requesting and giving the "READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" and "WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" permissions, but I still can't open the file content if it is stored outside of the dedicated application directory... I can only open and encode file content if it is in the app directory (so: "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/[APP_PACKAGE]/files"), but I need to upload to my server files choosed by the user so these files were never stored inside the app directory, they are always stored inside the internal storage or the external storage in directories like the "Download" dir or the "Pictures" dir (I need to upload every type of files, so pictures, documents, pdfs ecc.. ecc.)

Is there any solution to this problem? I have already tryed all the solutions I found online, but I always get an ACCESS EXCEPTION if I don't add "requestLegacyStorage" to the manifest (and I can't add it to notg go against Google's policies...) Please I really need to solve this problem because this is one of the most important feature of my app..

Thank you so much! I hope anybody can help me solve this problem T_T

Have a nice day and nice coding!

(Ask if you need more informations and I will add them!)

##########################################################################

If anyone needs it I found a "solution" but works only by using "ACTION_GET_CONTENT" (and probably by using "ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT", but I didn't try it yet). When you select a file (stored outside the app-specific directory) using "ACTION_GET_CONTENT" this file is copied inside the app-specific directory ("/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/[APP_PACKAGE]/files") so you can open it because it agrees with the "SCOPED STORAGE" policy.

# "ACTION_GET_CONTENT" code:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
String[] mimes = {
      "application/*",
      "audio/*",
      "font/*",
      "image/*",
      "message/*",
      "model/*",
      "multipart/*",
      "text/*",
      "video/*"
};
intent.setType("*/*");
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_MIME_TYPES, mimes);
intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_ALLOW_MULTIPLE, true);
startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, getString(R.string.msg_select_file_to_upload)), REQ_CODE_OPEN_DOCUMENT);

Theoretically it also works without passing the "mimes" array to the intent extra "EXTRA_MIME_TYPES".

To get the path inside the "onActivityResult":

String path = FilesUtils.onActivityResultOpenDocument(this, data);


public static String onActivityResultOpenDocument(Context context, Intent data){
    String selectedPath, fileName;
    Uri uri = data.getData();
    String mimeType = context.getContentResolver().getType(uri);
    if (mimeType == null) {
        String path = getPathFromOpenDocumentUri(context, uri);
        if (path == null) {
            fileName = FilenameUtils.getName(uri.toString());
        } else {
            File file = new File(path);
            fileName = file.getName();
        }
    } else {
        Uri returnUri = data.getData();
        Cursor returnCursor = context.getContentResolver().query(returnUri, null, null, null, null);
        int nameIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME);
        int sizeIndex = returnCursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.SIZE);
        returnCursor.moveToFirst();
        fileName = returnCursor.getString(nameIndex);
    }
    String sourcePath = context.getExternalFilesDir(null).toString();
    selectedPath = formatFilepath(sourcePath, fileName);
    File fileSave = new File(selectedPath);
    try {
        copyUriStreamToFile(context, uri, fileSave);
    } catch (Exception e) {
        Logger.onException(TAG, e);
        Toast.makeText(context, R.string.error_impossibile_recuperare_file, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
        selectedPath = null;
    }
    return selectedPath;
}

So summarizing by using "ACTION_GET_CONTENT" (and maybe "ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT" too, but I didn't tryed this) the selected file is copied inside the app-specific directory (so: "/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/[APP_PACKAGE]/files") in this way the file can be opened because it agrees with the "Scoped Storage" policy.

Thank you all for your answers and your time! (: <3

I still don't know how to read a file if it is stored outside the app-specific directory, so if anybody know it please share your solution (: